Mike Losness Wins The 2009 Vans Pier Classic

If you’re looking for a microcosm of the greater financial crisis at work in our little surf world, look no further than Huntington Beach’s Shaun Ward. Ward, who stormed through his Round 5 heat today into the quarter finals at the Vans Pier Classic presented by Jack’s, walked up the beach after nearly doubling his next closest opponent’s heat score, under his arm a board with a stark white, stickerless front half. As in, he has no sponsors. Did we mention he won this event last year?

“I had the best year of my life last year,” says Ward. “I won two WQSes, I got shots in the mags—I thought I did well for my sponsors.” After things didn’t work out with his longtime backer No Fear, he says all his other sponsors, except Jack’s Surfboards, dropped him as well. That was in October.

Ward’s not alone, there are plenty of other pros with fewer stickers on their boards than even six months ago, from World Tour stars like Bobby Martinez down to regional guys. But it’s not necessarily all doom and gloom. Tough times can inspire people to summon even greater things than they thought themselves capable of. All over America people have lost their jobs, but the hard times are motivating their entrepreneurial spirits, and they’re starting businesses and taking their fate into their own hands. It’s the American spirit; bootstrapping, persevering, and ultimately succeeding.

And even in the surf world there are some recent hard-luck-to-high-times stories that are no doubt on Ward’s mind. Take Australian ace Bede Durbidge, who was dropped by his sponsor, and went on to better his World Tour ranking the next three years, rolling right up to runner up in the world last year. Or Nathaniel Curran, who was also dropped and went on the next year to win the WQS, make the World Tour, and realize a life-long dream. Now, Ward may not be the next Bede, but then again Bede thrived on doubters, and ended up making them eat their words.

If Ward’s going to do that, the first step will be making a big push on the WQS. And that will start tomorrow morning at his home break of Huntington Beach Pier, where he’ll be battling it out in the quarter finals. Though he may not have backing from a big sponsor, don’t feel too bad for him because he may actually have something more impressive: a bikini-clad cheering squad. Throughout his Round 5 heat he had a group of very hot girls cheering him on, which never hurts, especially at HB.

Others that flared up in the main event today were Dillon Perillo, John John Florence, Cody Thompson, and Mike Losness, among others. But you get the sense that Shaun Ward is hungry to repeat last year’s win. “I’m putting everything I have into every heat, and treating a two star like a six star,” he says. “If I win an event I might be able to make my rent for the next six months. So is it important? Yeah, it’s important.”—Casey Koteen